Wikipedia

Scot Pollard

Scot L. Pollard (born February 12, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. In an 11-year NBA career, he played for five teams, spending the bulk of his career with the Sacramento Kings and the Indiana Pacers.[1]

Scot Pollard
Pollard with the Boston Celtics in 2007
Personal information
Born (1975-02-12) February 12, 1975 (age 49)
Murray, Utah, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight278 lb (126 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeKansas (1993–1997)
NBA draft1997: 1st round, 19th overall pick
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Playing career1997–2008
PositionCenter
Number31, 62, 66
Career history
1997–1998Detroit Pistons
1999–2003Sacramento Kings
2003–2006Indiana Pacers
2006–2007Cleveland Cavaliers
2007–2008Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Pollard was born in Murray, Utah, and grew up in San Diego and Kennewick, Washington. He attended the University of Kansas and was the 19th pick of the 1997 NBA draft, selected by the Detroit Pistons. For every season, except his first, Pollard appeared in the NBA Playoffs including in the 2007 NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He won a championship in his final season (2007–08) with the Boston Celtics.

Pollard appeared as a contestant in Survivor: Kaôh Rōng in 2016.

Early life and college

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Pollard was one of six children in a devout Latter-Day Saint family, but Pollard never embraced the religion.[2] His father, Pearl Pollard, played basketball at the University of Utah.[2] For three years, he played high school basketball at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego before moving to Kennewick, Washington to play for Kamiakin High School most of his senior year.[3] Parade magazine named Pollard a high school All-American in 1993.[4] He eventually graduated from Kamiakin and attended the University of Kansas, where he graduated in 1997 with a degree in education.[2][3] While playing NCAA basketball, Pollard finished sixth in Jayhawks history among free throw shooters with 358, fourth in rebounds with 850, and second in blocked shots with 218.[5]

NBA career

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Pollard was selected 19th overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons, with whom he debuted during the 1997-98 NBA season. In 33 games with the Pistons, he averaged 2.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.3 assists per game.

He was traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Christian Laettner, but Pollard never suited up for a game with them and was waived almost a month later. Pollard was traded to the Sacramento Kings, whose management was in the midst of building a successful playoff team at the time. With the Kings he suffered an injury that allowed him to play only for sixteen games during the lockout-shortened 1999 season. It was during his stint with the Kings that he became a solid backup to center Vlade Divac, often starting at power forward when Chris Webber was injured.

Pollard spent the 2002–03 NBA season plagued by injuries. After that season, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers. With the Pacers Pollard had an average of 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 points scored, and 0.4 assists per game. He played an average of about 12 minutes per game.

 
Pollard (farthest left in white jacket) played for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2006–2007 season.

Pollard's contract with the Pacers expired following the 2005–06 season. On August 18, 2006, Pollard signed a one-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers lost the 2007 NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs four games to none, and Pollard played one minute of game 2.[6]

On August 9, 2007, Pollard signed a one-year contract with the Boston Celtics.[1] Pollard chose #66 as his new uniform number, and jokingly claimed he took it because he would not be allowed to have three 6's.[7] Pollard played limited minutes during the season and saw no playing time during the Celtics championship run in the 2008 NBA Playoffs. He retired shortly after.

Hair styles

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Pollard was known across the NBA for his peculiar hairstyles, which included a Mohawk, a single pony tail, a man bun, and a bald head. On January 2, 2006, he introduced a new hairstyle when he wore two pony tails during a Pacers home game against the Seattle SuperSonics.

While with the Sacramento Kings, Pollard received the nickname "Samurai Scot".

Other pursuits

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Broadcasting

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During the 2007–08 season, Pollard hosted "Planet Pollard," a segment of the show Celtics Now, on Comcast SportsNet. He visited various locales and often gave tours and information about the place he was visiting.

On April 12, 2008, during a game against the Atlanta Hawks, Pollard filled in for color commentator Tom Heinsohn on CSN New England's game telecast. Pollard, who was out for the season after left ankle surgery, has color analyst experience with the Sacramento Kings and WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs.[8] Pollard joined NBA TV in 2009. On October 3, 2014, Mark Boyle announced that Pollard would be joining the Indiana Pacers radio crew.

Acting

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In 2012, Pollard portrayed the titular Axeman in the horror film Axeman at Cutter's Creek.[9] In 2014, he played the role of B. H. Born in the film Jayhawkers.[10]

Survivor

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In 2016, Pollard appeared as a contestant on Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, competing in the 32nd season of the competitive reality television series Survivor as part of the To Tang, Gondol, and Dara tribes. The competition was filmed in Kaoh Rong, Cambodia during the spring of 2015[11] and premiered on February 17, 2016.[12] Though Kaôh Rōng was the 32nd season to air, it was the 31st filmed, having been shot before Survivor: Cambodia, which aired first; the two seasons were filmed back-to-back in the same location.[13] He was voted out on Day 27 by a 4–2–2 vote and became the fourth member of the jury.

Health

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In January 2024, Pollard revealed that he needed a heart transplant due to a genetic issue that was triggered by a virus he contracted in 2021.[14] He was admitted to the ICU in February 2024 while waiting for the transplant.[15] On February 16, 2024, Pollard underwent successful heart transplant surgery.[16][17]

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1997–98 Detroit 33 0 9.6 .500 — .826 2.2 .3 .2 .3 2.7
1998–99 Sacramento 16 5 16.2 .541 — .696 5.1 .3 .5 1.1 5.1
1999–00 Sacramento 76 5 17.6 .527 — .717 5.3 .6 .7 .8 5.4
2000–01 Sacramento 77 8 21.5 .468 .000 .749 6.0 .6 .6 1.3 6.5
2001–02 Sacramento 80 29 23.5 .550 — .693 7.1 .7 .9 1.0 6.4
2002–03 Sacramento 23 0 14.1 .460 — .605 4.6 .3 .6 .7 4.5
2003–04 Indiana 61 3 11.1 .412 — .571 2.7 .2 .4 .4 1.7
2004–05 Indiana 49 17 17.7 .473 — .673 4.2 .4 .6 .5 3.9
2005–06 Indiana 45 32 17.1 .455 — .763 4.8 .5 .8 .4 3.8
2006–07 Cleveland 24 0 4.5 .423 — .500 1.3 .1 .2 .0 1.0
2007–08† Boston 22 0 7.9 .522 — .682 1.7 .1 .1 .3 1.8
Career 506 99 16.5 .494 .000 .709 4.6 .4 .6 .7 4.4

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1999 Sacramento 5 0 14.8 .667 — .600 2.2 .2 .8 1.2 3.0
2000 Sacramento 5 0 14.0 .563 — .333 3.2 .2 .4 .2 4.0
2001 Sacramento 8 0 17.6 .633 — .588 6.9 .3 .1 .9 6.0
2002 Sacramento 15 0 12.9 .525 — .667 3.5 .2 .5 .3 3.3
2003 Sacramento 8 0 11.4 .292 — .769 3.8 .3 .1 .9 3.0
2004 Indiana 3 0 4.3 .000 — .500 1.3 .0 .3 .0 .7
2005 Indiana 9 0 7.4 .400 — .500 1.2 .1 .1 .0 1.4
2006 Indiana 4 0 3.8 .000 — — 1.3 .0 .3 .0 .0
2007 Cleveland 3 0 1.0 — — — .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
Career 60 0 11.1 .496 .000 .610 3.1 .2 .3 .4 2.9

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Big man Pollard adds size, depth to Celts' bench – updated August 7, 2007
  2. ^ a b c Reed, Tom (October 26, 2006). "Pollard always has been his own man". Akron Beacon-Journal. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Pollard, Scot. "All about Scot". PlanetPollard.com. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  4. ^ Smith, Craig (March 31, 2005). "Notebook: Webster on Parade All-American first team". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  5. ^ "2004–05 Player HQ: Scot Pollard". Indiana Pacers. 2005. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  6. ^ "Scot Pollard Game-by-Game Stats (2006–2007)". ESPN. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  7. ^ Gary Tanguay interviews the always entertaining Scot Pollard at Celtics Media Day, September 28, 2007
  8. ^ Marc J. Spears, Hawks control their own fate, The Boston Globe, April 12, 2008.
  9. ^ The Axeman of Cutter’s Creek Speaks Out (interview), Horror Society, February 4, 2013.
  10. ^ Ex-KU star Pollard says of 'Jayhawkers': 'I'm a history guy. And it made me think. Fox Sports. February 13, 2014.
  11. ^ Pisey, Hay; Henderson, Simon (February 26, 2015). "TV's 'Survivor' to Film on Koh Rong". The Cambodia Daily. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  12. ^ Hibberd, James (November 30, 2015). "CBS midseason dates: Here's when Survivor returns". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  13. ^ Ross, Dalton (December 16, 2015). "'Survivor: Kaoh Rong': Jeff Probst gives intel on next season". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  14. ^ Kayla Moeller (January 10, 2024). "Former Kings player Scot Pollard in need of heart transplant". CBS News. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  15. ^ "Former NBA player Scot Pollard admitted to ICU unit, awaiting heart transplant". CBSSports.com.
  16. ^ Golen, Jimmy (February 16, 2024). "Former NBA center Scot Pollard receives heart transplant". NBA.com.
  17. ^ Downs, Brandon (February 16, 2024). "Former Kings player Scot Pollard undergoes successful heart transplant surgery". cbsnews.com.
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